In the beginning, there was so much randomness that I didn't know where to begin. I don't know how many times I have wanted to start a project, but just didn't know what to do first, and, as a result, nothing got done. Hopefully that will not happen with my current project.
I plan on working on self discipline over the next 6 and a half weeks. I hope to have a cleaner house and more good articles written, as well as some new material for future writing.
Today was the official first day. Though not perfect, I was disciplined more than usual. I did not get up as early as I wanted, but I did cook a healthy breakfast of oatmeal. I did not prepare spiritually for the day before I left the house, but I did while I was in the car on my short drive to work by leaving the radio off and collecting my thoughts and trying to focus my attention on spiritual matters. I may have been rewarded for this by having EVERY light between home and work stay GREEN for me.
I did what I had to do at work, only sending out a few text messages while on lunch, and leaving right on time. I continued a simple evening at home, resting for about 30 minutes, sending a few more texts, getting ready for recycling tomorrow, cooking a simple meal. Instead of watching the news, I watched a documentary on The Salton Sea in southern California and a day in the life (and an interview with) a 105 year old woman. After starting the dishwasher and heading to my room, I realized that I had not written anything yet today. Bad discipline.
So, today was a good start in self discipline. At least I had some luck with a low-key day and got the kitchen sink looking less cluttered instead of just ignoring the mess. So much more yet to work on, but day one was OK.
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Starting early, or is it late?
One of my resolutions for 2012 and other prior years was to write more than before.
I have written more on hubpages tom-vogler.hubpages.com this year, publishing something new about every two weeks or so, but I'm afraid I've been neglecting my blog. So, 7 weeks into the new year, I renew my intent to write.
The timing of this renewal comes the day before the start of Lent. I see Lent as a time of sacrifice as well as a time of preparation. Writing more often (hopefully daily) will be a sacrifice because it will require self discipline to set aside a few minutes a day and give up some other less productive uses of my time. It will be a time of preparation because hopefully I will develop my talents and come up with some more good material for my portfolio.
I actually started Lent yesterday by going into the chapel on my way home from work.
I have written more on hubpages tom-vogler.hubpages.com this year, publishing something new about every two weeks or so, but I'm afraid I've been neglecting my blog. So, 7 weeks into the new year, I renew my intent to write.
The timing of this renewal comes the day before the start of Lent. I see Lent as a time of sacrifice as well as a time of preparation. Writing more often (hopefully daily) will be a sacrifice because it will require self discipline to set aside a few minutes a day and give up some other less productive uses of my time. It will be a time of preparation because hopefully I will develop my talents and come up with some more good material for my portfolio.
I actually started Lent yesterday by going into the chapel on my way home from work.
Getting one step ahead of things.
Hmmm. Yesterday. Monday, February 20. It was the day I finally gave in and started taking my daily allergy pills until sometime this Fall. This is the earliest I have ever started taking them on a regular basis. When I was younger, I would take the pills only when symptoms occurred, which meant I would suffer for a while before taking any action to solve the problem, then wait for the medicine to take effect.
Somewhere over the years, doctors advised me to take the pills every day during allergy season. This seemed like a good idea, since it was likely that many days would be allergy days between Spring and Fall. I would take the pills from about late April until mid-June, then from mid August until the first frost usually in October.
Two years ago, my Doctor surprised me when, during the dormant time of early March, he asked me if I was taking my allergy pills yet. Puzzled, I replied, "No, not yet!" He said it was a good idea to start taking them about 3 weeks before symptoms start.
So, since this year has been a particularly mild Winter, and since I have had some annoying health problems in the past few weeks, I decided to start taking the pills now, just in case my premonition is right.
Somewhere over the years, doctors advised me to take the pills every day during allergy season. This seemed like a good idea, since it was likely that many days would be allergy days between Spring and Fall. I would take the pills from about late April until mid-June, then from mid August until the first frost usually in October.
Two years ago, my Doctor surprised me when, during the dormant time of early March, he asked me if I was taking my allergy pills yet. Puzzled, I replied, "No, not yet!" He said it was a good idea to start taking them about 3 weeks before symptoms start.
So, since this year has been a particularly mild Winter, and since I have had some annoying health problems in the past few weeks, I decided to start taking the pills now, just in case my premonition is right.
Friday, August 12, 2011
What is a day off?
No, this will not be a lament saying that I am overworked or stressed out or have so many demands on my time that I never have any free time. Instead, I will attempt to rationalize what tends to happen on my days off.
What is a day off really for? It is so nice to not be required to be out of the house for 9 hours plus on those days off. I usually have two such days a week, though not always the same two. Some days I do leave the house for minutes or hours, some days I do not.
I try to arrange things so that I can do some errands after work so that there is less on my MUST DO list on my days off. That doesn't always work out that way though. For example, today was my day off and what did I do? LAUNDRY. A load of whites, a load of lights, and a load of darks, which must be taken down from the line after I type this. GRRRR
I try to catch up on housework. Sometimes I can do it on days that I work, but larger things must wait until days off though.
I try to catch up on correspondence on my days off. Paying bills, etc, I can do on days that I work, but correspondence which requires me to express genuine thoughts and feelings in a thoughtful way, I like to save for my days off.
I may spend more time on the computer on my day off. This can be good and bad. I am more likely to do something relaxing on my day off like watching a dvd or television or reading a book.
The biggest question I have is how to balance what needs to get done with the need for recreation and relaxation. I am still working on this.
What is a day off really for? It is so nice to not be required to be out of the house for 9 hours plus on those days off. I usually have two such days a week, though not always the same two. Some days I do leave the house for minutes or hours, some days I do not.
I try to arrange things so that I can do some errands after work so that there is less on my MUST DO list on my days off. That doesn't always work out that way though. For example, today was my day off and what did I do? LAUNDRY. A load of whites, a load of lights, and a load of darks, which must be taken down from the line after I type this. GRRRR
I try to catch up on housework. Sometimes I can do it on days that I work, but larger things must wait until days off though.
I try to catch up on correspondence on my days off. Paying bills, etc, I can do on days that I work, but correspondence which requires me to express genuine thoughts and feelings in a thoughtful way, I like to save for my days off.
I may spend more time on the computer on my day off. This can be good and bad. I am more likely to do something relaxing on my day off like watching a dvd or television or reading a book.
The biggest question I have is how to balance what needs to get done with the need for recreation and relaxation. I am still working on this.
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
High and low tech living in the same house on the same day.
Today was a sunny and very warm day. Some may even call it hot. Like yesterday, the high was in the low to mid 90s and unlike what seems like the past two weeks, it did not rain, nor was it even a bit cloudy.
I was off today and had things to do around the house, so I did them. I am so glad for several modern conveniences but I am also glad I can use some low tech approaches as well.
Kitchen appliances are modern luxuries I like. Toaster, refrigerator, stove, two cup hot water boiler, etc. I did my laundry using a relatively modern washing machine, but instead of using the dryer, I used the low tech method of drying them....on a clothesline outside in the wind and sunshine. I used the dishwasher to wash and dry some of my dishes, but did others by hand and let them air-dry. I plan on cooking chicken for Supper tonight, but I also have some mint in a pitcher of water setting out in the sun to make a pseudo mint tea to drink cold a little later today and this week. The nice part would be saving electricity by drying most of my clothes that way for 6 months out of the year.
In keeping cool I made use of both modern and old fashioned methods. In the morning, when the temperature cooled into the mid 60s, I opened the doors and windows to let the cool air in. When the temperature warmed up later in the morning and in the afternoon, I closed the windows and doors and let the air conditioner cool the house. Another option could be to spend more time in the basement in the hot weather because it is about 15 degrees cooler there than the rest of the house.
I was off today and had things to do around the house, so I did them. I am so glad for several modern conveniences but I am also glad I can use some low tech approaches as well.
Kitchen appliances are modern luxuries I like. Toaster, refrigerator, stove, two cup hot water boiler, etc. I did my laundry using a relatively modern washing machine, but instead of using the dryer, I used the low tech method of drying them....on a clothesline outside in the wind and sunshine. I used the dishwasher to wash and dry some of my dishes, but did others by hand and let them air-dry. I plan on cooking chicken for Supper tonight, but I also have some mint in a pitcher of water setting out in the sun to make a pseudo mint tea to drink cold a little later today and this week. The nice part would be saving electricity by drying most of my clothes that way for 6 months out of the year.
In keeping cool I made use of both modern and old fashioned methods. In the morning, when the temperature cooled into the mid 60s, I opened the doors and windows to let the cool air in. When the temperature warmed up later in the morning and in the afternoon, I closed the windows and doors and let the air conditioner cool the house. Another option could be to spend more time in the basement in the hot weather because it is about 15 degrees cooler there than the rest of the house.
Thursday, April 28, 2011
In a cleanup, cleanout, fix it or throw it out kind of mood.
Computer files and a broken bathroom storage cabinet were the most recent victims of my wrath! I'm not sure what caused this most recent session of purging, but I am delighted with the results. I hope it is more of a lifestyle change than a simple Spring cleaning phase.
Some of my recent victories in this war include the two examples mentioned in the last paragraph as well as some shredding of lots of paper. (Confetti for sale here) Even the flower beds are getting an overhaul by pulling dandelions and other weeds.
Part of this may be the fact that I am approaching 5 years living in my house. In a way, I feel like I never really moved in because I never addressed the clutter issue. I am now getting caught up on maintenance and repairs and am beginning to feel like I AM THE HOME OWNER, NOT JUST THE OCCUPANT. I think I realize what it means to be a home owner...to take ownership of the home and to make it into something nice, not just a place to dump things and be protected from the elements. It is a home, not public storage. It is where I LIVE, not just stay.
Addressing the issue of clutter will be even more meaningful because I will make room for MY future by letting go of parts of my past that I no longer need. I am sure there are things that I should have tried to get rid of 25 years ago, instead of holding onto them as useless baggage. They cluttered floors, shelves and who knows what else and instead of purging them when I should have, I tripped over them and moved them once or twice, hundreds of miles. I am literally carrying around excess weight.
OK, enough blogging for today...time to stop living in the past and de-clutter my way into the present and future.
Some of my recent victories in this war include the two examples mentioned in the last paragraph as well as some shredding of lots of paper. (Confetti for sale here) Even the flower beds are getting an overhaul by pulling dandelions and other weeds.
Part of this may be the fact that I am approaching 5 years living in my house. In a way, I feel like I never really moved in because I never addressed the clutter issue. I am now getting caught up on maintenance and repairs and am beginning to feel like I AM THE HOME OWNER, NOT JUST THE OCCUPANT. I think I realize what it means to be a home owner...to take ownership of the home and to make it into something nice, not just a place to dump things and be protected from the elements. It is a home, not public storage. It is where I LIVE, not just stay.
Addressing the issue of clutter will be even more meaningful because I will make room for MY future by letting go of parts of my past that I no longer need. I am sure there are things that I should have tried to get rid of 25 years ago, instead of holding onto them as useless baggage. They cluttered floors, shelves and who knows what else and instead of purging them when I should have, I tripped over them and moved them once or twice, hundreds of miles. I am literally carrying around excess weight.
OK, enough blogging for today...time to stop living in the past and de-clutter my way into the present and future.
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Time off for good behavior
...or perhaps I've been around so long, my workplace can't tolerate me as much as before, so they are willing to pay me to stay away.
16 years is a long time to stay at any one workplace, especially in these days of high turnover rates and few if any incentives to stay long term. When I reached the 15 year mark almost a year ago, my paid vacation went from three weeks per year to four. Our department had some issues with staffing and there are two months where taking a vacation is not allowed, so I took one week last September and one in October. I understood the staffing issue, so in January, I told them I would take the remaining two weeks right before I would lose the time. (The fact it took more than 2 months, several reminders and a meeting with the my boss' boss' boss to finally approve it is another matter.)
It has been several years since I've taken two weeks in a row, and I must say I enjoy it. Mostly I take one week at a time and usually add a personal day and/or an unpaid day off plus a weekend to extend my time away to a week and a half.
I can feel a difference the second week makes. Now that I am in to my second week, I feel my stress level is much lower than it has been in several months and my happiness level is higher. However, it took a full week plus three days to really feel that way. I am enjoying this fourth week of vacation since last year.
Now to figure out how to use my next 4 weeks of vacation! ;-)
16 years is a long time to stay at any one workplace, especially in these days of high turnover rates and few if any incentives to stay long term. When I reached the 15 year mark almost a year ago, my paid vacation went from three weeks per year to four. Our department had some issues with staffing and there are two months where taking a vacation is not allowed, so I took one week last September and one in October. I understood the staffing issue, so in January, I told them I would take the remaining two weeks right before I would lose the time. (The fact it took more than 2 months, several reminders and a meeting with the my boss' boss' boss to finally approve it is another matter.)
It has been several years since I've taken two weeks in a row, and I must say I enjoy it. Mostly I take one week at a time and usually add a personal day and/or an unpaid day off plus a weekend to extend my time away to a week and a half.
I can feel a difference the second week makes. Now that I am in to my second week, I feel my stress level is much lower than it has been in several months and my happiness level is higher. However, it took a full week plus three days to really feel that way. I am enjoying this fourth week of vacation since last year.
Now to figure out how to use my next 4 weeks of vacation! ;-)
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